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PENNSYLVANIA 

STATE FORMAL SCHOOLS. 



EXPLANATIONS, &C-, OF THIS ACT, WILL APPEAR IN THE OFFICIAL DEPARTM EXT 
OF THE " PENNSYLVANIA SCHOOL JOURNAL. " 



AN ACT 

TO PROVIDE FOR THE DUE TRAINING OF TEACHERS FOR THE COM- 
MON SCHOOLS OF THE STATE. 

Division of the State into Normal School Districts. 

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Represen 
tatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly 
met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That for 
the purposes of the following act, the counties of Delaware, Ches- 
ter, Bucks and Montgomery, shall form the First Normal School 
District ; Lancaster, York and Lebanon, the Second ; Berks, 
Schuylkill and Lehigh, the Third ; Northampton, Carbon, Mon- 
roe, Pike, Luzerne and Wayne, the Fourth ; Wyoming, Sullivan, 
Susquehanna, Bradford, Lycoming and Tioga, the Fifth ; Dauphin, 
Northumberland, Columbia, Montour, Union, Snyder, Perry, 
Juniata and Mifflin, the Sixth ; Cumberland, Adams, Franklin, 
Fulton, Bedford, Huntingdon and Blair, the Seventh ; Centre, 
Clinton, Clearfield, Elk, Potter, M'Kean, Jefferson, Clarion, Forest 
and Warren, the Eighth ; Cambria, Indiana, Armstrong and West- 
moreland, the Ninth ; Washington, Greene, Fayette and Somer- 
set, the Tenth ; Allegheny, Butler and Beaver, the Eleventh, and 
Lawrence, Mercer, Venango, Crawford and Erie, the Twelfth. 
Establishment of Schools. 

Section 2. That when any number of citizens of this State, not 
less than thirteen, shall, as contributors or stockholders, erect 
and establish a School for the professional training of young men 
and women as Teachers for the Common Schools of the state, 
in accordance with the provisions of this act, such School may 
become entitled to it's benefits, in the manner hereinafter set 
forth: Provided however, That not, more than one such Schoo.l 



XORMAL SCHOOLS 

.shall, at the same time, become and continue to be entitled to 
.such benefits in each of the foregoing Normal School Districts ; 
and that this act shall not take effect till at least four such 
Schools, in as many different Districts, shall have complied and 
been recognized in accordance with the provisions of this act. 

Trustees. 
Section 3. That the pecuniary affairs of each of said Schools 
shall be managed, and the general control exercised by a Board 
of Trustees, (whose officers shall be a President and Secretary 
who shall, and a Treasurer who shall not, be members of said 
Board,) to be chosen by the contributors or stockholders on the 
first Monday in May annually; but no contributor or stockholder 
shall have more than five votes at the election of trustees ; and 
no religious test or qualification shall be required, to entitle any 
one to become a contributor, stockholder, trustee, professor or 
student in any of said Schools. 

({ift^ and Beqnesfcs. 
Section 4. That after the said Schools shall have been recog- 
nized under the provisions of this act, it shall be lawful for them 
to receive, hold and use, under the direction of their Trustees 
aforesaid, any devise, bequest, gift, grant or endowment of pro- 
perty, whether real or personal, which may be made to them ; 
and the same shall be so applied by the Trustees as shall, in the 
opinion of a majority of them, increase the efficiency and use- 
fulness of the said Schools, subject, however, to any terms, con- 
ditions or restrictions which may be attached to such devise, 
bequest, gift, grant or endowment, not inconsistent with the 
spirit and purposes of this act ; and the said Trustees shall have 
authority to bring suit in their name as trustees, and do all other 
things necessary for the recovery, use and application of the 
same. 

Annual Report by Trustees. 
Section 5. That the Trustees of each of said schools, after 
being recognized under the provisions of this act, shall annually 
in the month of June furnish, under oath or affirmation of the 
President of the Board of Trustees, to the Superintendent of Com- 
mon Schools, a full account of its pecuniary condition, showing 
income and debts, if any, salaries and other expenses, and divi- 
dends declared, together with the number of students admitted 
and graduated, the branches taught, the apparatus procured, the 
improvements effected, and the changes made during the pre- 
ceding year, and such other information as said Superintendent 
of Common Schools may, from time to time, by his general cir- 
cular to all of said schools, require to be furnished ; and each of 
said schools shall always be open to the visitation and inspec- 
tion of said Superintendent of Common Schools, and of the 



3 OCT 1905 
D.ofO, 



OF PENNSYLVANIA. S 

County Superintendents of all the counties within its Normal 
School District. 

Requisites to obtain benefits of thi.-s Act. 
Section 6. That to entitle it to the benefits and privileges of 
this act, each of said Normal Schools shall possess the following 
requisites : 

1. Buildings. 

I. Suitable buildings as hereinafter provided, and an area of 
ground appurtenant thereto, of not less than ten acres in one 
tract, the whole of which shall be prepared and used as a place 
for gymnastic exercises and healthful recreation by students, ex- 
cept so much thereof as shall be necessarily occupied by the 
buildings, botanical and other gardens, and such other purposes 
as shall be plainly promotive of the great objects of the institu- 
tion. 

2, Hall, Rooms, ij-c* 

II. The buildings shall contain a hall of sufficient size to com- 
fortably seat at least one thousand adults; with class rooms, 
lodging rooms and refectories for at least three hundred students; 
all properly constructed and arranged as to light, heat and venti- 
lation, so as to secure the health and comfort of the occupants, 
with proper provision for physical exercise during inclement 
weather. 

3. Library. 

III. Each School shall contain a library room for the accu- 
mulation of books for the free use of the students, a cabinet for 
specimens and preparations, to illustrate the natural and other 
sciences, [and] such apparatus and philosophical instruments as 
are indispensable for the same purpose. 

4. Professors. 

IV. Each School shall have at least six Professors, of liberal 
education and known ability in their respective departments, 
namely: — One of Orthography, Beading and Elocution; one of 
Writing, Drawing and Book-keeping; one of Arithmetic, and the 
higher branches of Mathematics ; one of Geography and History; 
one of Grammar and English Literature ; and one of Theory and 
Practice of Teaching ; together with such Tutors and Assistants 
therein, and such Professors of Natural, Mental and Moral Sci- 
ence, Languages and Literature, as the condition of the School 
and the number of students may require. 

5. Duties of Principals. 

V. The Principal of each Normal School shall be a Professor 
of such one of the six indispensable branches as may be assigned 
to him by the Trustees, and he shall be charged with the whole 
discipline and interior government of the School, in conformity 
with such regulations as shall, from time to time, be adopted by 



4 NORMAL SCHOOLS 

the Trustees, and approved by the State Superintendent of Com- 
mon Schools. 

C. Modi i School ■■ 

VI. Each School shall have attached to it one or more Schools 
for Practice or Model Schools, with not Jess than one hundred 
pupils from the children of the vicinity, and so arranged that 
the students of the Normal School shall therein acquire a prac- 
tical knowledge of the Art of Teaching under the instruction of 
their proper Professors. 

7. Qualifications, and Term of Study. 

VII. The qualifications for admission in, and the course and 
direction [duration] of the term of study in all the Schools, shall 
be such as shall be approved by and at a meeting of all the Prin- 
cipals of the Normal Schools then recognized under this act ; 
such meeting to be called from time to time, as he may deem 
expedient, by the State Superintendent of Common Schools, and 
to take place at one or other of the Annual Examinations herein- 
after provided for, except the first meeting, which shall be held 
at such time and place as he may indicate ; and at such meetings 
the acts of the majority of the Principals shall be binding on all 
the Schools in reference to the qualifications for admission and 
the course and term of study, when approved by the State Su- 
perintendent of Common Schools. 

8. Text Books. 

VIII. The Text Books to be used in each of said Schools shall 
be such as may be selected by its proper Professors, with the ap- 
probation of the Trustees thereof. 

9. Common School StUi 

IX. Each of said Schools shall admit when required, and re- 
tain during the whole term of study, if so long they behave them- 
selves well, one student annually, alternately male and female, 
from each Common School District within the counties composing 
iis Normal District, at a cost of not more than five dollars each 
for the term or quarter of eleven weeks, to be paid in advance 
by the Board of Directors sending them 5 said students to be se- 
lected after public examination by said Directors from amongst 
those, if males, of the age of sixteen or upwards, and if females, 
of not less than fourteen years, who manifest a desire and a 
capacity. to exercise the Profession of Teaching, preference being 
always given to those of the best moral character, most studious 
habits and greatest proficiency in knowledge ; but no one to be 
so admitted unless proficient in all the studies required for en- 
trance into the Normal Schools by their general regulations, 
adopted under article seven of this section. 

10. Private Stu 

X. Students other than those admitted on district account, to 
pay such sum for tuition as the Trustees shall determine ; but in 



OF PENNSYLVANIA. 5 

the admission of such students the preference always to be given 
to such as are designed for the Profession of Teaching, and as 
between private and public students, a like preference to be given 
to the latter in case of insufficiency of room to accommodate all 
who apply ; and no difference in the charge for boarding and 
lodging to be made in favor of any class of students. 

11. Ad mission of School Teachers. 

XL Teachers who shall have taught a Common School in their 
proper Normal District during a full school term of their Common 
School District next preceding their application, rra-.y be admitted 
for any term not less than one month into their proper Normal 
School, at a charge for instruction not to exceed two dollars per 
month ; and shall pay the same price for boarding and lodging, 
if there be room for them, as other students, and shall have the 
same care and facilities for study in proportion to their advance- 
ment. 

12. Annual Examinations. 

XII. Examinations for graduation shall be made in each Nor- 
mal School by not less than three nor more than five Principals 
of the Schools recognized under this act, who shall annually be 
designated for that purpose by the State Superintendent of Com- 
mon Schools, and assemble in each School at a time to be desig- 
nated by him ; and said Annual Examinations shall take place in 
the presence of the Superintendents of all the Counties: embraced 
in the proper Normal School District. 

13. Expulsions. 

XIII. The Faculty of each Normal School shall have the power 
to expel any student attending on district account for improper 
conduct ; which expulsion and the cause of it shall forthwith be 
certified in writing by the Principal to the Directors of the dis- 
trict from which the expelled student was admitted, whereupon 
such Directors shall have the right to supply the vacancy thus 
created. 

How Privileges of this Act obtained. 

Section 7. That when the Trustees of any School desirous of 
claiming the privileges of this act shall make application to the 
State Superintendent of Common Schools, it shall be the duty of 
the Superintendent of Common Schools, together with four other 
competent and disinterested persons, to be chosen by him with 
the consent of the Governor, and all the Superintendents of the 
Counties in the Normal School District in which such School 
shall be situated, on receiving due notice from the Department of 
Common Schools, personally and at the same time, to visit end 
carefully inspect such School ; and if, after thorough examination 
thereof, and of its by-laws, rules and regulations, and of its 
general arrangement and facilities for instruction, they or at least 



6 NOKMAL SCHOOLS 

two-thirds of tljcni shall approve the same, and find that they 
fully conic up to the provisions of this act, in that case and in no 
other they shall certify the same to the Department ol Common 
Schools, with tjieir opinions that such School has fully complied 
with the provisions of this act, as far as can be done before o-oing 
into operation under this act ; whereupon the State Superintendent 
shall forthwith recognize such school as a State Normal School 
under this act, and give public notice thereof in two newspapers 
in each county in the proper Normal School District, and thence- 
forward this act shall go into full operation, so far as regards 
such school, without any further proceedings : Provided however, 
As hereinbefore set forth, that no such notice shall be given 
until at least three other Normal Schools, in as many different 
Normal Districts, shall have been similarly inspected, approved 
and certified to the Department of Common Schools ; and if upon 
due inspection any School so applying shall be found insufficient 
under this act, said Board of Inspectors shall so report to the 
Superintendent of Common Schools, who shall thereupon inform 
the Trustees thereof of such adverse report. 

Rival Applications. 

Section 8. That if two or more Schools apply in the same Dis- 
trict to be recognized under this act at the same time, all of them 
shall be visited in the manner prescribed by the next preceding 
section, and the one found to possess the largest and best accom- 
modations and arrangements, to give effect to the purposes of 
this act, shall be preferred, and so certified, if it fully come up 
to the requirements of this act; and if two or more Schools in 
the same District be found to possess equal accommodations and 
arrangements fully up to the requirements of this act, in that 
case the one nearest to the centre of the proper Normal District 
shall be preferred, and certified for recognition to the Department 
of Common Schools ; and if one or more of the Schools thus ap- 
plying for recognition give notice to the Department of Common 
Schools, with reasonable assurance that it or they are not now 
ready for inspection under the seventh section of this act, but 
will be within the term of six months from and after the date of 
such nctice, in that case none of the Applicant Schools shall be 
inspected in such District till such time within said six months 
when all shall be prepared for inspection, when like proceedings 
shall take place as have been prescribed in the preceding part of 
this a:id the seventh section. 

Certificate of Scholarship. 

Section 9. That the Board of Principals who shall examine 
the candidates for graduation in any of the Normal Schools under 
this act, shall issue Certificates, to be signed by all of them, to all 
such students of the full course as two-thirds of the Board shall 
approve, setting forth expressly the branches in which each 



OF PENNSYLVANIA. 1 

have been found duly qualified, which Certificates must embrace 
all the branches enumerated in the fourth article of the fifth sec- 
tion of this act, including the Theory but not including the Prac- 
tice of Teaching, and may also embrace any additional branches 
in which the graduate was found proficient ; actual Teachers of 
Common Schools in good standing who shall produce satisfactory 
evidence of having taught in Common [Schools,] during three 
full consecutive annual terms of the districts in which they were 
employed, may also be examined at the same time and in the same 
manner with the regular students of their proper Normal School, 
and if found equally qualified, shall receive certificates of schol- 
arship of the same kind ; and all the Certificates granted under this 
section shall be received as evidence of Scholarship to the extent 
set forth on the face of them, without further examination, in 
every part of the state ; and whenever the holder of any Certifi- 
cate under this section shall by study and practice, have prepared 
for examination in any branches of study additional to those in 
such certificate, he or she may attend the Annual Examination of 
the Normal School of the District, and if found duly qualified, 
shall receive a new Certificate, setting forth all the branches in 
which up to that time, he or she may have been found proficient ; 
and thenceforth such enlarged Certificate shall also be evidence 
of Scholarship to the extent of it, in every part of the State, with- 
out further examination. 

Teachers' State Certificate. 

Section 10. That no Certificate of competence in the Practice 
of Teaching shall be issued to the regular graduate of any of said 
Normal Schools, till after the expiration of two years from the 
date of graduation, and of two full annual terms of actual teach- 
ing in the district or districts in which such graduate taught, 
nor to any Teacher who shall hold a full Certificate of Scholarship, 
without having been a regular student and graduate, unless upon 
full proof of three years actual teaching in a Common School or 
Schools, nor in either case without the production of a Certificate 
of good moral conduct, and satisfactory discharge of the requi- 
site duration of professional duty, from the Board or Boards of 
Directors in whose employment the applicant shall have taught, 
countersigned by the County Superintendent of the proper county 
or counties; on the production of which proof and not otherwise, 
a full Certificate of competence in the Practice of Teaching shall 
be added to the Certificate of Scholarship, and of theoretical 
knowledge of the science of teaching already possessed, to be 
received as full evidence of practical qualification to teach in 
any part of the State without further examination : Provided how- 
ever, That Practical Teachers who shall upon due examination, 
receive a Certificate of Scholarship, may at the same time receive 
a Certificate in the Practice of Teaching, upon producing the re- 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



NORMAL SCHOOLS. H| ^^ 

019 740"242"8 

quired evidence of three years previous Experience in uie an ui 

Teaching-, and of good moral conduct. 

Provisional Coitificate. 

Section 1 1. That no Temporary or Provisional Certificate nor 
certificate of any less degree of scholarship than that required 
by the ninth section of this act, shall be issued by said Board of 
Principals nor by the Faculty of any of said Schools, but the Prin- 
cipal of each of said Schools may certify in writing, to the length 
of time which Teachers may have attended under the eleventh 
article of the sixth section of this act, and the manner of their 
deportment while in attendance. 

Duty of Common School Graduates. 

Section 12. That the students who shall graduate on district 
account in any of said Normal Schools, shall be liable to devote 
the next three years after their graduation, to the exercise of 
their profession as Teachers in the Common Schools of the Dis- 
trict which defrayed the expense of their professional instruc- 
tion, if so required by the respective Boards of Directors of such 
Districts, and at the medium salary or compensation paid in such 
Districts; and if not so required by their proper district, they shall 
devote said three years to the employment of teaching in the 
Common Schools of some other district or districts at such salary 
as may be given therein; and each of said students before ad- 
mission to the proper Normal School, shall subscribe a written 
declaration of his or her intention to comply with the provisions 
of this section, which shall be deposited with the Secretary of 
the Board of Directors of the proper Common School District. 
Duty of Superintendent of Common Schools. 

Section 13. That it shall be the duty of the Superintendent 
of Common Schools to prescribe all Forms and to give all instruc- 
tions required for carrying this act into full effect on all points 
not .herein set forth in detail. 

J. LAWRENCE GETZ, 
Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

DAVID TAGGAKT, 

Speaker of the Setiate. 

Approved — The twentieth day of May, Anno Domini one 
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven. 

JAS. POLLOCK. 



A B Hamilton. State Printer. Ilarrisburi 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



019 740 242 8 



Hollinger Corp. 
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